"They're in decline." US President Donald Trump, in an interview with Politico, portrayed European countries as states being"destroyed" by their leaders. They are"friendly," according to the president, but they are also"weak."

Trump, recently crowned by Politico as the individual with the greatest influence on European politics, sounded harsher than ever in his condemnation of his European counterparts. He declared that they"don't know what to do" to end the war in Ukraine."They talk, but they don't produce."

Trump's attacks on European migration policy were even sharper."They're destroying their country," the president said of European leaders, by allowing in"millions" of migrants. Many European states will no longer be"viable," he predicted, and perhaps even cease to be allies."Because the people coming in have a completely different ideology."

In doing so, he echoes a view already evident in the new national security strategy his administration released at the end of last week. It stated that European countries are increasingly becoming"non-European." "The question, therefore," the document stated,"is whether European NATO member states will in the future view their place in the world, or their alliance with the US, in the same way as the signatories of the NATO Charter." Consequently, it must be an American priority to"cultivate resistance" within European nations, to the benefit of radical right-wing parties.

“Terrible, mean and disgusting”

Allies should not interfere"in the democratic life or domestic political choices" of other allies, responded European Council President Antonio Costa. Trump reiterated to Politico that he does not share that view. He would continue to express his support for European politicians he liked, he said, such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Someone who absolutely does not enjoy his support is London Mayor Sadiq Khan."I hate what's happened to London," Trump said. Khan, a Labour politician and London's first mayor of Muslim descent, was, in his view,"a horrible, vile, disgusting mayor" who had come to power solely on the back of the immigrant vote. Khan was first elected in 2016 with 57 percent of the vote and subsequently re-elected twice. Trump has been on fire for him since Khan criticized his proposed Muslim ban in 2015.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also came under fire. He is currently trying, along with European politicians, to revise an American peace proposal that contains too many concessions to Russia for Kyiv. This is making Trump impatient. He's not walking away from Ukraine yet, he indicated, but his patience is wearing thin. Asked who had the upper hand in the war, Russia or Ukraine, he said:"There can be no doubt about it: it's Russia."